RelyLocal Wausau Newsletter for Thursday December 1, 2011

Wow, today marks the 1st of December, our brown fall landscape is starting to look a little more like Christmas as light snow is falling early this Thursday morning in the Wausau Area.

Business Member News

Our RelyLocal Wausau business members have been working hard this holiday season, keeping me very busy helping them promote their Christmas specials. If you want to know the latest happenings, either check out our page on Facebook or the Buy Local Wausau Blog.

Driving down Grand Ave in Schofield, you may have noticed a new business pop up about a block away from the dam. Couture Kidlets is a children’s boutique offering fun and festive fashions for little girls and boys. Most of the items are locally produced hand made clothing, so their inventory is one of a kind and constantly changing. Head on down and visit their kid friendly shop at 1030 Grand Ave.

Speaking of Grand Ave in Schofield, Hidden Treasure Consignment Boutique is consolidating their two stores and moving to a new, bigger location at 1050 Grand Ave in Schofield (the former furniture outlet store). Right now they are holding a moving sales at their stores in the Shopko Plaza in Rothschild and 2724 Stewart Ave in Wausau. They’d rather sell the merchandise than move it, so expect great discounts at both stores.

Are you getting ready to decorate for the holidays and notice that your walls are kind of dingy? G&K Services suggests a great way to freshen up your home is with painting the walls. Today’s paints have less odor and dry faster with the low humidity, so your rooms can have a brand new look in no time. Give them a call today and get you home spruced up for the holidays. A Coupon is available on RelyLocal Wausau.

With such a great season and only one more game to go, it is all but likely that the Badgers are Rose Bowl bound this year. Dragon Flight Travel has some great Rose Bowl packages available for the January 2nd game. If you are a Badger or Rose Bowl fan, you know how fast these travel packages will go. Now’s the time to act to get the best prices and rooms. Details are on the Dragon Flight Travel blog.

Small Business Saturday

Last weekend was Small Business Saturday. This second annual event was created by American Express Card to promote small businesses and the good they do for our local economy. It was great to see the number of businesses that jumped the Small Business Saturday bandwagon this year. But on a more somber note, I was talking with a small business person this week and she made a valid point that AMEX has the highest merchant fees of any of the credit cards available. In some cases the merchant fee can be as high as 6%. Plus AMEX is pretty restrictive when it comes to challenging chargebacks. These two issues can really hurt the already slim margins that many small businesses face and the biggest reasons why many small businesses don’t accept American Express Cards. I’m sure that American Express’ intentions are good in starting Small Business Saturday, but ultimately they want to use the program to create a greater use and acceptance of the AMEX card. When using credit cards, please realize that merchants do give a cut to the processing companies. It’s a cost of doing business. If you want to make the biggest impact on our local economy and help small businesses at the same time, pay with cash.

Closing Thoughts

The Bethlehem Peace Light is a worldwide traveling expression of goodwill. This Christmas season the light is making its way to Weston. Every year a lamp is lit from the eternal flame in Bethlehem and it travels around the world and country, lighting candles and lamps along way while sharing the message of peace. This Thursday evening at 6:30pm volunteers are bringing the flame to the Wausau Homes Scout Center at 3711 Camp Phillips Rd in Weston. You can bring a candle or lamp and bring the flame to your home for the Christmas season. More details at the Buy Local Wausau Blog.

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About The Author

This blog is curated by Michael Martens. I’ve lived in the Wausau area since 1978 and feel a very strong tie to the community. I’m a homeowner, community supporter, and am raising my family here. I’m active on several boards and community groups including Wausau Noon Kiwanis, Samoset Council Boy Scouts of America, and Wisconsin Valley Radio Association.